I think one of the most tragic records in the entire Bible is the story of Jonathan, Saul's son. He loved God, and I've never seen anything in the Bible that indicates that he ever left God. He was a valient man, and one who made God his confidence, as evidenced by his attack on the Philistine garrison with only his bodyguard for company.
When he met David, he loved him with all his heart, even though it became clear to him that David, and not he, would be the next king. He gave place to David willingly, without regret.
God Himself had chosen Saul as king over Israel. In spite of this, Saul rebelled against God's Word. As a result of this, God announced first that He would not establish the kingdom under Saul's house, as He had intended, and finally, when Saul continued to disobey, God announced that he had rejected Saul from being king.
Did Saul step down from the throne when God rejected him? Did he step down when he got posessed? Did God remove him from the throne immediately after He rejected him? No! Saul stayed on the throne for the rest of his life, and most of God's people followed him until his death.
When David told Jonathan that Saul was trying to kill him, Jonathan couldn't believe it; his father would do nothing, he was convinced, without telling him first. Yet, at the time they spoke, Saul had personally thrown his javelin at David three times, and had sent messengers after David several times to capture him so he could kill him. Jonathan lived with his father day in and day out; yet, it appears, he knew nothing of these things, even though his own sister had once saved David's life.
But Jonathan loved David enough to put his father to the test, to find out what he really ad in mind for David. The test worked so well that Saul tried to kill Jonathan with his javelin!
So David fled, with Jonathan's blessing, and raised his own band in the wilderness. David never tried to remove Saul from the throne, but neither did he subject himself to saul, the man God ad appointed as king.
Jonathan loved David, but he loved his own father also. He gave his blessing to David, but never wavered in his loyalty to Saul. After all, Saul was his father, his own flesh and blood.
When Saul tried to hunt David down like a dog and kill him, Jonathan stayed loyal to Saul. When Saul ordered the priests at Nob to be murdered, Jonathan stayed faithfully with him. When Saul consulted the witch at Endor, Jonathan remained loyally by his side.
Jonathan knew that David would be the next king, and graciously stepped aside for him; but though he confessed this to David, he never let the rest of the Israelites in on the secret. Nor did he let the rest of israel know what his father had tried to do to David, or, for that matter, to him. Jonathan was no tattler; he kept all these things faithfully in his locked box.
As a result, when Saul died for his disobedience and for consulting a witch, Jonathan died with him; and not only he, but an unspecified number of those who had followed Saul into battle. (None of the men who followed David died in the battle.)
I've read nothing in the Word that indicates that Jonathan disobeyed God like his father did; nor do I read anything that condemns him for staying with his father. Nevertheless, when his father was punished for his sins, Jonathan shared his punishment.
There's a similar (but shorter) lesson in the record of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. God chose him to be king of Israel, giving him ten tribes, and leaving two with the house of David. God promised him that if he remained faithful to God, God would establish the kingdom under the reign of his house, as He had done with David.
But Jeroboam was afraid that if the people continued to go to Jerusalem to worship, their hearts would return to the house of David. So he made idols for them to worship, close to home. And he fired the Levites.
The Levites left their appointed cities, set aside for them by God, and moved to Judah, where they could serve God.
After the Levites left, those people from all the tribes of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the Lord left their inheritance, the lands given to them by God, and moved to Judah, so they could worship God.
These things were written as examples for us, so that we would not make the same mistakes that others made. I take their lesson seriously. If someone is leading me, I make it my responsibility to make sure he's directing me toward God.
Not all the promises in God's Word are positive. Some are warnings: if you do this, you will receive that. But these promises are just as dependable, just as certain, as the positive ones.
God promises that if I blindly follow a leader who is blindly walking contrary to God's Word, I will end up where he does -- in the ditch. I get no points in that case for loyalty, or unity.